so..i'm not a newbie and have fished for years but basicallywhen the kama B611 came out yrs ago i really got on with itand pretty much used it exclusively for years, strong reliable and tidy,the only time i deviated form this was small carping where I used Kama animals(they were pretty much the only thing out at the time)so after a 10yr hiatus I returned to fishing a few yrs ago and the choices are endless now,I use a variety now but am unsure of a few element to hooks,so theres the waffle, heres the things I'm on about.

what difference does shank length make...i like short shanks, are longer ones more stable, as in they sit straighter?I have always had it in my head from the very first fishing i have ever doneto mask as much of the hook as possible and thats why i rather short shanks

are turned in points simply to provide better angle for hook holds, id imagine straight points have a better hook up ratio?any other pro's and con's?

what about colour, logic says that bronze hooks would be more discreet than shiny silver,maybe the flash attracts fish, maybe they dont see it underwater at all? any ideas

lastly, bend shape...crystal or round, pro's and con's

i have my own ideas on all these elements but whats yours?I'd like to get down to the nitty gritty of why we choose X hook for X method using X bait,

I think some of these things are blind faith to a degree, e.g. someone says a certain hook is brill and you go try it...next time you go outyou sack up and then thats it, the hook is brilliant, but sure on the day you could have sacked up on a bent pin!

cheers

4

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I hate curved points and only use them now if I am finding hook points getting blunted on rocky ground when ledgering. Straight points much better for hooking.

I find that hooks are a trade off between being light wired ones that produce better presentation because the bait can act more naturally and heavier wired ones that are less likely to pull loose once in but don't give great presentation...This goes for size too.

If I am float fishing or light ledgering I generally go for the b611 ... I've never had a need to go lighter but I am not interested in match fishing. If i need to go heavier for general fishing i'd use the drennan wide gape specialist or the super spade. I like a wider gape in bigger size of hooks like 12/10/8s ...think it gives a better hook hold but its really only a personal thing.

For hair rigging I use heavier hooks like the ESP range from drennan or the barbel specialist or the kamasan b101. I like curved hooks for this style of fishing but the points are still straight. You can use heavy hooks for this style of fishing because the hair makes the bait act more natural in spite of a heavy hook.

Some folks will never use a shiny hook only bronze or teflon coated but nickel hooks never bothered me.

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been that i was into carping for along time ive always liked curved hooks espc when using a hair rig...i find that they turn better in the fishes mouth an generally the hook hold is in d bottom lip.....i use scaled down versions of the carp hook now a days in sizes 10 to 16 depending wat size of bait im using.....

ive always hated long shanked hooks and never had much faith in straight shanked hooks but thats just me...i kown lads that are the oppisited....i started using curved buzzer hooks last summer and imo they are a great hook....http://stores.ebay.co.uk/visit-SpottyDo ... =168723719i dont think ill be changing to any other hook......as for teflon hooks i think most of them are dung and are on the market to catch the angler....1 of me mates was using the korda hooks in france and dropped 6 carp in a row....he did the same wit said hooks in cork dropped 7 carp(ud think he wud hav learned)....he changed over 2 mugga's and every fish was landed there after....

color of hook has never bother me cause most of the venues ive fished over the years are silty so in hind site ur hook is in d silt and cant be seen...not many venues up this way espc that hav gravel lake beds...imo i dont think shiny hooks hav any bareing on ur fishing but its wat the hook manafacture's drum into every angler to sell more of their products.....a chap from the uk once said to me that its not the fish that make angling hard its the angler...so if we thought all the time wat was going on we prob never fish....

STOP THE NEEDLESS SLAUGHTER...CATCH AN RELEASEif there's no fishing in heaven im not going